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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is May Flowers
I went broad with the topic this week and got as many different varieties of flowers as I could. Not a lot of variety with the genres though, there’s a lot of historical fiction here. I don’t appreciate this topic adding so many new books to my TBR, by the way. 😭
Top Ten Flowery Books
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht – I’d never heard of this book but it sounds so good and right up my alley. It’s historical fiction about Korea under the Japanese occupation, and there are two timelines. I need this!
One Hundred Daffodils by Rebecca Winn – This is a memoir that I was initially not interested in, but it actually sounds interesting and I can’t help but be curious.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I’ve read only one other book by this author and loved it and have been meaning to read more.
Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick – Vincent Van Gogh as a character? I am very, very intrigued. This is fiction but I’m curious to read this fictional account of Van Gogh’s life.
Peony in Love by Lisa See – I have several of the author’s books on my TBR, including this one, and I have yet to read them. I really want to, eventually!
Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee – I always love the story of an underdog taking on the world and coming up on top. I’m not sure if it will end well, but I am taken in by the description.
Under the Magnolias by TI Lowe – This one is set in the 1980s in South Carolina. I don’t necessarily seek out historical fiction, but I find that I do love a lot of them and can’t help wanting to read more!
Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach – The tulip mania has always been a curiosity for me and I’d love to read more about it. This one is also historical fiction.
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley – Another author with multiple books on my TBR list. I really need to read them some time!
Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – This one sounds interesting to me as well. It’s set in India and apparently in the 2000s, but not far enough back to be considered historical fiction I’m sure.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings.
And I Would Walk 500 More
Last week was a total contrast with the week before, weather-wise. The weather was so nice two weeks ago and I walked so much outside, but last week it rained/snowed pretty much the whole week and I didn’t go outside at all. I did manage to get some exercise indoors though. I paced while reading, and I set up my computer on my walking desk so I was doing blog stuff while on the treadmill too, which is great!
Except that I got a bit of motion sickness and I had to take a lot of breaks.
I had wanted to post more, write some book reviews, but didn’t feel up to it with the motion sickness. I also had a lot to catch up on with replying comments and visiting blogs, and I’m still catching up, but I think I’m getting better doing longer sessions on the treadmill/computer, and I’m sure it will get easier once I get used to it. It’s a chore setting up the computer, so I can’t just switch it out when I get tired of walking and want to sit. I mean, I can, but it’s a whole lot of work. And I want to get used to this because I think it’s better for my health in the long-term.
It’s getting better already, see! I’m writing this post while at my walking desk!
In other news, husband and I finished watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and I finished watching Blown Away. We are now watching Physical: 100 Season 2 together, and I’m continuing with my 911 watch.
I also got caught up on laundry, yayyy, but of course it never really ends. And I took a break on cooking last week and husband cooked instead. He sautéed some salmon belly which was simple, but oh so delicious!
All the happy things:
We had our final check-in for The Count of Monte Cristo readalong and had a wonderful discussion that went almost 3 hours!
I managed to finish The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie in time for the book discussion and we had another great discussion for it, plus, I ended up really loving it and now I’m obsessed and have started reading the next book!
I organized my work space – cleared some old papers, threw away stuff I no longer needed. More to go, but it’s a great start.
The bad weather didn’t get me down because I still managed to walk a lot – indoors, but it still counts! I’m getting into the habit of pacing while I read and walking on the treadmill while working on the computer, and honestly, it doesn’t come naturally and I get tired easily, but I’m looking at the long term benefits.
The Books
Books I read last week:
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande – I thought it was cool that a whole book was dedicated to the importance of having checklists. For the regular layperson like me, checklists are usually just part of the tools I use for convenience and keeping myself organized, and it has also saved me some stress many times, but in aviation, construction, and medicine, it can be the difference between life and death. I think checklists are worth implementing in any situation you can think of though, and I think the book is definitely worth reading.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton – I didn’t expect such a heavy subject matter, but I think it was an important story to tell and I appreciate the author being vulnerable and telling her story. It’s given me a different perspective about the oil sands industry, and about male-dominated industries in general.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel – This is my in-person bookclub’s BOTM for May, and I’d usually not read the BOTM so early, but I borrowed the book from the library before it was chosen for the BOTM, and I decided to just go ahead and finish it anyway. I might do a quick recap before the book discussion as a refresher.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – I just finished this book yesterday and I loved it! It was the highlight of the week! I had such an immersive experience reading it, plus having discussions about it immediately after. I’m still processing, or rather, I’m still half in the world of the book and I’ve already started on the next book, so I feel like I’m still immersed. Totally leaning into it!
Books I’m reading:
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie – Just started but already excited about reading more!
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – I’m reading this on audio. It’s only 3 hours and I’m already halfway through. It’s breaking my heart a little.
I’m so obsessed with The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie that I might try to finish the second and third books this week. Let’s see if I can do that!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
It’s Time Travel Thursday! Hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog, this is where you get to take a look back at what you were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and get to relive those bookish memories!
This time in 2023 I was reading:
Happy Place by Emily Henry
My thoughts:
This book gave me all the feels. I love that it’s a different take on fake dating, from the other side of the relationship, which changed a lot of the dynamics. And I love the whole found family aspect of it as well. It made me laugh, it made me cry – both happy and sad tears – because it was also really bittersweet. People change and grow, sometimes they grow apart, sometimes they find a way to grow together. I love that.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
This time in 2022 I was reading:
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
My thoughts:
This is the 3rd book in The Farseer Trilogy. I loved the author’s Liveship Traders series, and I wanted to like this series too, but there were some things that happened in this book that I couldn’t get over at the time and I DNF’d the book. I also didn’t like the protagonist very much because he’s so whiny and seems more like an anti-hero, but unlikeable protagonists don’t really bother me in general as long as they are interesting. I may possibly try this again eventually.
My rating: ⭐⭐/5
This time in 2021 I was reading:
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My thoughts:
There was a chapter that mentioned simplifying and dumbing down the philosophies/concepts being discussed, I think it was titled Life and Death and Quantum something something, and that kind of summarizes the whole book for me.
I like the ideas behind this story, the theme of the book. It’s a story meant to comfort, motivate, inspire, and I think it would have worked very well as a fable. But as a full-length book it was boring, repetitive, preachy… and I felt like I was being talked down to. There were a lot of “wise-sounding quotes” that felt pretentious; the kinds that sound profound but say nothing.
I really wanted to like this book, and I even started out wanting to give it a 3-star rating, but the more I think about it, the less I think I like it, so I’m going with a 2-star rating.
My rating: ⭐⭐/5
This time in 2020 I was reading:
The Institute by Stephen King
My thoughts:
I listened to this one on audiobook. I love most of Stephen King’s works and I especially enjoy the really long books. This one was 19 hours on audio and apparently approx. 800 pages.
It looks like I had some hits and misses at this time in the last few years. They are all also very different books with very different vibes. To be fair, the books with the good ratings were written by two of my go-to authors – Emily Henry, and Stephen King. I’ve only read one other Matt Haig book that I was lukewarm about, and while I loved Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders, I’ve only read two of her series. I am open to reading more of Robin Hobb though, and trying this one again too.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What were you reading at this time in the past?
Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.
April 2024 Wrap Up
I finished 16 books this month and there were a lot of really good ones! A couple of them were books I started months ago and just happened to finish this month (The Count of Monte Cristo and Blitz). There were a couple of poetry, graphic novels, and short books.
I managed to finished four of my intended TBR, and there was one DNF, but overall I’m happy because I finished the ones with deadlines (book clubs/buddy reads/readalongs) and I can read the others later.
My April 2024 TBR Intentions
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (DNF)
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Oh I don’t like this game anymore! I cannot choose one, there were so many amazing books this month! I’m gonna cheat and go with multiple books; The Way Forward, Bookshops & Bonedust, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Kite Runner!
2024 Bookish Books Challenge – 4/10 – Started at 3/10 at the beginning of the month. Only read one bookish book this month.
2024 Audiobook Challenge – 25/30 – Started at 16/30 at the beginning of the month. Now I have 5 more to go to hit my target.
2024 Library Love Reading Challenge – 43/60 – Started at 27/36 at the beginning of the month. Since I’ve hit 43, and achieved my original goal of 36 books, I have decided to level up to 60+ books!
The Classics Club – 2/10 – It’s 50 books in 5 years, so I’m aiming for 10 this year.
May 2024 TBR Intentions
I’ve already started on The Blade Itself, and Sea of Tranquility is for my in-person book club for May. Hopefully I’m able to finish as many of the other books as possible.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTeirnan
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
I’ve been anticipating some of them since the beginning of the year and I’m excited to get to them as soon as I can!
How was your month in April? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful May with lots of great books!
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Petty Reasons You’ve DNF’d a Book.
I don’t know if I’d call all my reasons “petty”, but some of them are definitely mean! Some of these dnfs happened recently, and some of them are really old dnfs that I don’t even remember – I copy/pasted my thoughts from reviews/notes I wrote.
Top Ten Petty Reasons I’ve DNF’d a Book
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – I loved the first book in this series and I really wanted to like this one too, but one of the love interest in this story gave me the ick, and I just couldn’t continue the journey with them. I think I dnf’d around the halfway point.
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – I dnf’d this very early, within the first few chapters. The writing was difficult to read and it didn’t keep my interest.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber – I read all the way to 95% of the book, I believe, but I was annoyed with it the whole way and just got angrier and angrier as I read because I expected it to get better and it never did. I can’t say what the final straw was because it’s so close to the end and may be a spoiler, but at that point, I was just done.
Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck – I’ve mentioned this book before in Books I Love to Reread; it’s the one book I love that I’ve reread many times but never finished. It counts as a petty dnf for this list, because my reason is that the last few pages just didn’t seem necessary.
Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien – I dnf’d this once a long time ago, forgot completely about it, came across the series again and thought it sounded fun, tried reading it again, and dnf’d again. I really wanted to love it and get into the whole series, but I don’t think it’s for me. Both times dnf’d early in the book – I went a bit further the second time because I wanted to make more of an effort to like it.
Taking Chances by Molly McAdams – My exact notes were; “Nope, sorry. So bad within the first 50 pages that I don’t even want to waste my time reading the rest of it.”
The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake – The characters were messy and unlikeable and inconsistent.
Splintered by A.G. Howard – I love going through my old notes and seeing how mean and petty I was; “I decided not to finish the book. It got really annoying and I really didn’t like the characters much at all.”
Innocent Mage by Karen Miller – “I had high hopes for this book, but the deeper I got into the book, I just started getting bored. Nothing was going on, everything was just telling, not showing. The characters started getting on my nerves, with all the waiting, waiting….”
Alienated by Melissa Landers – “In one word: shallow.”
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings.
So Much Walking
Last week I found the perfect route to walk around my neighborhood, and as of this writing, I’ve walked it six times already! It also helps that the weather has been lovely. It looks like there’s going to be some rain this week, but I will do my best to go for walks when the weather is nice.
I also did a lot of cooking last week but forgot to take pictures except for a couple of them; steamed black bean pork ribs, and romaine lettuce cooked with fermented bean paste. They were both really yummy!
There was also miso soup, mapo tofu, gailan in oyster sauce, napa cabbage stir-fry, onion omelette, and I don’t remember what else. I’m so glad I’ve been walking a lot because I think I’d start putting on a lot of weight if I keep eating all these yummy food!
As for TV shows; we finally caved and resubscribed to Netflix again and we’ve been catching up on the shows we loved. I’m watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season 6 with my husband, and Blown Away Season 4 on my own. I love both these series so much and I guess I couldn’t resist when there were new seasons!
This weekend I’ve got two book discussions! I just had my in-person book club meeting Saturday morning for The Kite Runner, and the final check-in for The Count of Monte Cristo is happening Sunday morning! The discussion for The Kite Runner gave me a lot to think about, the book is just really good, and one of the other book club members got me interested in reading Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns as well.
I’m also looking forward to the discussion of The Count of Monte Cristo – there’s already been some discussion in the chats that incited some passion, and I’m excited for more of the same for the live discussion!
Overall, I’ve been in a weird mood. I told my husband there were times last week when I felt proud and productive for all I’ve managed to get done – the walks for my health, the reading and book reviews, the cooking, etc. But then I look at the things I didn’t get done – the laundry, organizing my library, half-done projects, and so many things I initially planned for that I’m not even close to starting, and I feel… antsy. I want to get them all done, and I know I have to sort of pace myself, work on my time management and energy. I don’t know if I’ll have to give up on some stuff, but I prefer not to. I’m just taking things one at a time and focusing on the good stuff.
All the happy things:
I managed to catch up with all my book reviews!!
I’m truly estatic for my new walking route – it’s so conducive to audiobook listening and I’ve just loved my walks!
I finally finished books that have been on my TBR for ages!
Two book club discussions in a single weekend! (And another one to look forward to next weekend!)
The food!
The Books
Books I read last week:
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff – A 3-hour audiobook that went quickly, but what a joy to read! I feel like this is one I’d like to come back to over and over again.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – So good, so heartwrenching, so many feels! It’s just so well-written!
Slewfoot by Brom – It’s better than The Child Thief, and I love the illustrations, but at the end of the day, I don’t think this author is for me. I’m glad I got it read though!
Blitz by Daniel O’Malley – I read this halfway and had to return it, and finally got it back again and finished it! I expected to see more of the characters we met in the first two books, but this story is about brand new characters and we don’t see much of the past characters. It’s still good as a story in itself though!
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara – This has been on my TBR for years! I kept putting it off because of the dark subject matter and not being in the right frame of mind to go there. I finally decided to get it over with, and I’m so glad I did because it’s really worth reading!
Books I’m reading:
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande – A physician friend recommended this book to me more than 10 years ago, and I’m finally reading it now. I’m about 80% in.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton – This is a graphic novel, and I’m really interested in it because I live in the Oil Sands province. I’m about 100 pages in.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – I’m only 2% in on this one, but I’m supposed to finish it in a week! 😭
I meant to read The Blade Itself last week, but I got distracted by other books, and now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish it in time for the discussion this upcoming weekend. It’s a longer book with a bigger cast of characters, I’ve been told, but I’ll try to finish it in time!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.
“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark.”
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer.” Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.
This has been on my TBR for years but I kept putting it off because my mental health hadn’t been the best for the last few years and the subject matter of this book certainly wouldn’t help. I’ve been feeling much better recently and I thought I should finally get this read.
The Quotes
“I love reading true crime, but I’ve always been aware of the fact that, as a reader, I am actively choosing to be a consumer of someone else’s tragedy. So like any responsible consumer, I try to be careful in the choices I make. I read only the best: writers who are dogged, insightful, and humane.”
“He loses his power when we know his face.”
“What is the lasting damage when you believe the warm spot you were just sleeping in will be your grave?”
“I don’t care if I’m the one who captures him. I just want bracelets on his wrists and a cell door slamming behind him.”
The Narrator(s)
Gabra Zackman, with an introduction by Gillian Flynn, and an afterword by Patton Oswalt. It was very well-done.
My Thoughts
There was so much to process here. I loved how it was written and organized, and I love the biographical nature of the author writing down her thoughts about the case and including personal information and why it’s important to her. I care about the case because she cares about the case, and I think it’s important to have just as much highlight on the people who put the work into solving the case, as it is on the victims and perpetrators. There are so many crimes that go unsolved because sometimes people just don’t care enough, and perhaps it’s not always healthy for any one person to care too much, but I still respect that they do care.
I have seen some discussions online about how the author didn’t contribute to solving the case and didn’t even have the killer in her sights, and while the latter may be true, I don’t agree with the former. The fact that she kept the case active and in the spotlight (with her true crime blog), kept talking to detectives, witnesses, and victims, kept doing research and cross-checking data, kept bouncing ideas off of other people who were also still working on the case, is a huge contribution to making sure someone was taking action to find the killer, and to disregard that is ignorant and disrespectful.
My Feels
It was horrifying to read about all the terrible things the killer did, and to so many victims. It was heartbreaking to read about the victims, the fear, the powerlessness, the devastation of so many families and those left behind. It was infuriating to think of all the close calls where they could’ve caught the killer but didn’t. And it’s so sad to realize that the author didn’t live to see the killer caught and her life’s work achieved. But I am glad that I finally read this book.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
September, 1940. Three women of the Checquy, the secret organization tasked with protecting Britain from supernatural threats, stand in the sky above London and watch German aircraft approach. Forbidden by law to interfere, all they can do is watch as their city is bombed.
Until Pamela, the most sensible of them, suddenly breaks all the rules and brings down a Nazi bomber with her bare hands. The three resolve to tell no one about it, but they soon learn that a crew member is missing from the downed bomber. Charred corpses are discovered in nearby houses and it becomes apparent that the women have unwittingly unleashed a monster.
Through a city torn by the Blitz, the friends must hunt the enemy before he kills again. Their task will take them from the tunnels of the Underground to the halls of power, where they will discover the secrets that a secret organization must keep even from itself.
Today. Lynette Binns, a librarian with a husband and child, is a late recruit to the Checquy, having discovered only as an adult her ability to electrify everyday objects with her touch.
After completing her training, she is assigned to examine a string of brutal murders of London criminals and quickly realizes that all bear the unmistakable hallmark of her own unique power. Unable to provide an alibi and determined to prove her innocence, she flees, leaving behind her family to venture into the London underworld to find answers. But now she is prey, being tracked by her own frighteningly capable comrades.
As Lyn fights off powered thugs and her own vengeful colleagues, she will find that the solution to the murders and to the mystery of her own past lies in the events of World War II, and the covert actions of three young women during the Blitz.
I read the first two books – The Rook and Stiletto – and loved them, and so had to read this one too!
The Quotes
“Over the centuries, many Pawns had fallen prey to the seductive charms of succubi, incubi, and, in several memorable and bewildering instances, incunabula.”
“In their day to day lives apprentices were always under pressure to remain discreet, concealing their true nature from the civilians around them. It was heady to be plunged into a situation where everyone knew the truth of matters and there was no need to hide.”
“Until I was eleven, I lived with a Checquy Pawn and her husband in Oxford,” Pamela told me. “They were lovely—I still write to them. They schooled me and three other girls in the basic skills of reading, writing, firearms, arithmetic, religious education, history, unarmed combat, science, sketching and watercolors, armed combat, and, of course, the core skill of any Checquy operative.” “Which is?” I asked her. “Keeping one’s abilities secret.”
The Narrator
Moira Quirk. Same narrator as the second book, and this time there’s no weird spaces in between chapters so that was great!
My Thoughts
The author tells a great story and I loved this one too, but I have to admit I’m disappointed that it’s not a continuation of the previous books. I feel like I had the wrong idea of the three books out in this series, because I thought they were going to be the same story – the second book didn’t focus on the first book’s main character, but the stories still seemed linked together more than this one did. There were things that happened in the first two books that I was looking forward to getting a resolution on, and obviously didn’t get one from this book.
I still think this story is great in itself, and I’m glad I read it. Pamela, Bridget, and Usha (I’m not sure if I got the spellings right!) took me on a great adventure, and I loved Lynn’s story too. I think I might love Lynn’s story a little more. I love how things tied up at the end, but I feel like there’s more story to be told for these ladies. Which makes things difficult for me because I’m realizing now that the next books (if there are more books to come – that’s not clear at the moment) might not even revisit the same characters.
I’m good with taking a break from this series for now though, and if and when there is a new book, I’ll know better what to expect when going in.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell it.
A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.
Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken … and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.
Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts.
Complete with 8 pages of Brom’s mesmerizing full-color artwork and chapter illustrations throughout, his latest book is sure to delight.
I read a review that highly recommended this book and I was intrigued!
The Quotes
“You are not made out of needs, you are made out of your dreams and desires.”
“Life is nothing but riddles … we spend our whole lives puzzling them out. Sadly, as soon as we find the answer, the riddle changes. Does it not?”
“As at least cruelty was a thing that could be pointed out, confronted. But this belief, this absolute conviction that this evil they were doing was good, was God’s work—how, she wondered, how could such a dark conviction ever be overcome?”
The Narrator(s)
Barrie Kreinik. The narration was good and clear, I have no complaints!
My Thoughts
While waiting for this book to be available, I managed to read another book by the same author, The Child Thief, and I didn’t like it very much. It put me off the author so much that I second-guessed if I even wanted to read this one. Still, it did come highly recommended and I thought I should at least give it a try. So I did, and I liked it better than The Child Thief but not by much. I think that perhaps this author is just not a right fit for my tastes.
I happened to have both the audiobook and the physical copy at the same time from the library, and mostly listened to the audiobook, but there were illustrations in the physical book that I loved! So essentially, what I loved most about the book is the illustrations of the characters.
My Feels
This book did manage to elicit a lot of feelings from me though! I was infuriated with the injustice, the misogyny, the horrible things done in the name of religion. Ugh!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
It’s the chosen Book of the Month for my in-person book club’s April read.
The Quotes
“For you, a thousand times over”
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…”
“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”
“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life… you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a ather. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness… there is no act more wretched than stealing.”
The Characters
Amir is a very flawed character, but such a complex person as well, and it was very interesting to read the story from his POV. Baba, Hassan, and several other characters including the unlikable ones, are very interesting as well. I feel like the author has an incredible skill for writing complex characters and I really appreciate that.
My Thoughts
This story gave me so much food for thought and so many feelings too. The complexity of relationships, especially the familial ones, societal expectations and the need of the ego to live up to them, the hypocrisy of appearing perfect in public and behaving badly in private. I get the fear of judgment and the shame, I’ve felt it myself many times throughout my life, and I think that’s the beauty of this story. It makes you wonder what you would do if you were in the same position. Amir is flawed, and he has done horrible things, but he was also a literal child neglected by his only parent who he desperately wants to please. And even as you see him grow and become a man, there are so many other instances within this story where you wonder what you would do if you were in that position.
My Feels
There is so much heartache and bittersweetness here. I can feel the nostalgia, and the sense of “missing it but knowing that you can never go back”. I believe there’s a word for it in another language but I don’t remember it. I love how the story came a full circle and I love that my book club chose this book for April!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
